(PC) Goods v. Wasco State Prison ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHARLES FRANCIS GOODS, ) Case No.: 1:19-cv-00661-AWI-SAB (PC) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ) ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 v. ) FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 14 WASCO STATE PRISON, ) [ECF No. 14] ) 15 Defendant. ) ) 16 ) ) 17 ) 18 Plaintiff Charles Francis Goods is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights 19 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel, filed August 28, 21 2019. 22 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. 23 Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court cannot require any attorney to represent 24 plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. United States District Court for the Southern 25 District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the court 26 may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 27 1525. 28 /// 1 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the court will seek 2 || volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether 3 || “exceptional circumstances exist, the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on th 4 || merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of th 5 || legal issues involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 6 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the Court to evaluate the Plaintiffs likelihood 7 || of success on the merits and the ability of the Plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 8 || complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir. 9 || 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances common to most 10 || prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional 11 || circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. In the present case, 12 || exception circumstances do not exist and there is no basis to find a likelihood of success on the merit: 13 || given that Findings and Recommendations are pending to dismiss the action, without prejudice, for 14 || failure to exhaust the administrative remedies. Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for appointment of 15 || counsel will be DENIED. 16 17 ||IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 || Dated: _ August 29, 2019 OF 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28